Archive for August, 2010
A day in the life of… Craig James, Executive Chef
Ever wondered what it is like to be part of the team and Wallace & Co? Each month we will give you an insight into one of our team member’s day. This month, it is the turn of our Executive Chef Craig. Craig started working in kitchens some 20 years ago. With bags of experience and enthusiasm, he is responsible for designing and delivering our delicious food.
8am – it’s time for a quick bike ride from home to the restaurant. On the journey I always have a quick look around to see what other restaurants are doing. You never know what will inspire me to create a delicious dish.
8.30am – quick brief with my team. Lewis, our breakfast chef, has already been busy preparing our breakfast, but just need to check our high quality is there.
9.00am – deliveries are fast coming in. Every delivery is checked for quality by me. Occasionally, Vernon will surprise us with adding some new exciting produce onto our daily delivery from the farm. – I love this, as it gives me a opportunity to have a quick play around and try and get a new dish on for lunch.
9.30am – Breakfast is in full swing! Bacon is been grilled, delicious tomatoes and field mushrooms are been baked, and our free-range eggs are getting scrambled. Whilst Lewis is serving those delicious breakfasts, I gather the team together to start preparing our lunch – Quiches go in the oven, salads are getting prepped from the fantastic produce Vernon delivered to us early in the morning, roast beef is roasting in the oven.
10am – Quick meeting with Kedar, our pastry chef. Have a quick tasting session of the beautiful cakes he has made for us today.
10.30am – Menu meeting time. Meet up with Dan, our manager, to discuss menus for the day. Our menus rarely stay the same, so it’s important to keep on top. Any new dishes are prepared, so Dan can present to his team. Every new dish we cook at Wallace and Co is presented to the whole team. It is important for them to know what they are selling, and also gives me a great opportunity to get some valuable feedback.
11am – time for a quick coffee and a catch up on emails.
11.30am – The counter is set up ready for lunch. Just complete a quick check to make sure it is looks fantastic.
12.00pm – Lunch service begins! Our salads are continuously getting prepped to ensure we give our customers the freshest food we can get, more batches of quiches go in the oven, as well as cooking a few of our hot lunch range – beer battered haddock and chips, Cumberland sausage with mash and gravy to name a few.
3pm – Lunch is almost over, now its time to get ready for our dinner. Our £15 for 2 Courses offer is going well with the locals, so I need to make sure we have plenty of food for our evening guests. Quick brief with my guys to ensure they all know exactly what they are doing.
4pm – Meeting with Gregg to discuss our future menu dishes. I am getting very excited as today we are looking at our Christmas Menu. Of course, Turkey is a must so I get Jamie, our butcher to send in a couple of samples for us to try. Watch this space, as our Christmas Menu will soon be launched!
6pm – Dinner service starts! One of my biggest enjoyments in my role is doing a full on dinner service. Starters are flying out of our counter, chicken liver pate, poached salmon with picked cucumber, crayfish cocktails. Our customers don’t take long to eat them so they must be delicious. I’m getting ready their main courses down stairs, grilled rib eye steaks, crisp duck legs, roasted chicken, and of course loads of seasonal veg!
10pm – Dinner service is done! And what a service it was! Served over 90 people tonight in two hours, great stuff! Quick call around of our suppliers to let them know what we need for tomorrow. Quick clean down of the kitchen (I hate this part!), and then off to the pub with my team for a quick beer followed by bed! Got to get a good night sleep, ready to do it all again tomorrow!
Tags: A day in the life, Craig James